Gilas women’s prospect Vanessa de Jesus draws inspiration from the games of National Basketball Association stars Kobe Bryant and Hubert Davis.
Their games during their time in the NBA has inspired how she plays for the Duke University Blue Devils.
The 18-year-old de Jesus said this after the Blue Devils pulled off a 72-47 victory over East Carolina triumph on Saturday at the Cameron Indoor Stadium.
“Hubert Davis is a guard and he’s got amazing passing skills. And he’s someone I really look up to. And then, there’s Kobe Bryant. It’s his mentality as a player. It’s something I’ve never seen in a player. He inspires me to keep my love for basketball,” said de Jesus.
In the Blue Devils’ third straight triumph, de Jesus struck with seven points, two rebounds and four assists.
This time, Miela Goodchild towed four Duke players in double figures, coming away with six three-point field goals while knocking down eight of 12 from the field for a game-high 24 points.
Jaida Patrick had 11, while teammates Mikayla Boykin and Jade Williams had 10 apiece.
The Pirates fell behind to 1-3.
Duke shot exceptionally well,and made 27 of 54 attempts from the field. This made up for 23 turnovers.
The Blue Devils opened the game on a 15-0 run over the first 5:42 of the contest. They limited ECU to four points on 2-of-15 shooting (13.3 percent) in the first quarter.
“I thought it was a solid win for us in some respects. Clearly the first half was a high level for us on offense and defense,” said Blue coach Kara Lawson in a statement.